People arrive at the Uganda National Mosque in Kampala, Uganda, Sept. 24, 2021.Photo:Xinhua

A US couple detained in Uganda on charges of aggravated torture of a 10-year-old boy face an additional charge of aggravated child trafficking which carries the death penalty if they are convicted, the state prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Nicholas Spencer and his wife, Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32, have been in custody in Uganda since December 9 after they were charged with aggravated torture of the child who was living in their home under foster care in the capital Kampala. They have pleaded not guilty to that charge.

The new charge sheet showed the couple have additionally been charged with “aggravated trafficking in children.” 

A lawyer for the couple, who was not identified, was quoted by Ugandan newspaper the Monitor as dismissing the case as a “fishing expedition” by authorities, saying they had no evidence. 

Attempts by Reuters to reach a lawyer for them via the court and the prosecutors’ office were not immediately successful.

Prosecutors accuse the couple of having recruited, transported and kept the child through “abuse of position of vulnerability for purposes of exploitation,” according to the charge sheet.

Reuters